Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Unrighteous Cornbread

Thanks for all your positive comments about the family favorites project. It's nice to know that it's not just my kids who will benefit from these posts. And now the series continues....

Because of an overwhelming number of requests for cornbread, I will do that next. Ok, it really was only Melinda, but how could I refuse such a sweetie? Also, the request dovetails nicely with my plans because I always serve cornbread with chili. Cream goes with peaches, peanut butter goes with chocolate, and cornbread goes with chili.

Now some of you may be laboring under the delusion that cornbread is cornbread. Not so, gentle readers. There are some who say the war between the states was fought over states' rights; there are some who say it was over slavery; and there are some who would say it was over cornbread.

Mark Lowry, a comedian from the South, says that sugar in cornbread is not of God. (You can hear his whole riff on Southern vs. Northern cooking here.) Well, if that's the case then put my name down in the godless cornbread column because I make Yankee cornbread. It's moist, not too crumbly, and has sugar in it. Then it's topped with butter and honey (or honey butter, made by creaming together equal parts of honey and softened butter) and a panful is gone in a flash. There's particular jockeying to get the center piece as that's the moistest piece, but no one will admit to it.

2- In a medium bowl stir together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

3- In a small bowl with a fork, beat together egg, milk and vegetable oil. Pour this mixture all at once into the flour mixture. Stir just until flour is moistened and quickly pour the batter into the prepared pan.

You're right. Cornbread and Chili were meant for each other. Although (and this is just between us ;-), I'll often sneak a bite, or two for breakfast, with a little butter and a drizzle of honey. Makes me wish your plate of fluffy cornbread was in front of me right now.

I am so honoured to have the cornbread made just for me...and your family! I love cornbread and I suppose it was darn ole Yankee cornbread I grew up on. I do like a bit of sugar added. I love whipped butter and honey to melt on top too.Thank you for the recipe you use Lynn. I would get on in the family well as i like the edges of the cornbread. I like a 'bit of rough' as they say here! LOL.I actually had welcome home Chili for my daughter this evening sans the cornbread. I should have made a better effort!X

I grew up eating cornbread with no sugar. It was yummy indeed. My mom would heat oil in a cast iron skillet add cornmeal and then pour in the batter. She would then place the skillet in a hot oven. what an awsome crust the cornbread had. I made this for my husband when we were first married...he looked at me and said this is not cornbread. So, I began making cornbread his way, the more sugar the better. Now I can honestly say I like it both ways. Yours sounds great, I will have to give it a try.

hahahah...great post! I made some cornbread about a week ago with very little sugar and the husband gave it a thumbs down! Maybe I will try this version instead :) We're moving south (South Carolina), but I guess we will always be Yankees ;)